Construction on Africa’s highest bridge resumes

Construction on the R4.05 billion Mtentu Bridge in the Eastern Cape will resume this week, the Southern African National Roads Agency (Sanral) confirmed on Monday.

The project, which is part of Sanral’s N2 Wild Coast Road (N2WCR) programme, is designed to have a main span of 260 metres at a maximum height of around 223 metres. The development was awarded to the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and MECSA Construction joint venture (CCCC MECSA JV) in November last year.

Read: Chinese companies won the bulk of Sanral’s cancelled tenders

“Once completed, the Mtentu Bridge will be the highest in Africa and one of the longest main-span balanced cantilever bridges in the world,” Sanral said in a statement.

The resumption of construction work sets the project’s new completion date at the end of 2027.

“During the mobilisation period, Sanral engaged with stakeholders of both the Northern and Southern banks of the Mtentu Bridge. Local stakeholders have received news of the re-awarding of the contract with excitement and look forward to work resuming following delays caused by the project stoppage in October 2018,” Sanral Southern regional manager Mbulelo Peterson said.

Expanded scope

The Mtentu project has been expanded with a broader scope that includes the upgrading of an 18km provincial road that links the future Mkhambati Interchange to the Flagstaff-Holy Cross road, further providing a direct link from the future N2 to the town of Flagstaff. The tender will also include the construction of three community access roads, Sanral added.

Work will resume with pre-development work, including the construction of site offices, grass cutting and, later in the month, the construction of boreholes.

According to Sanral, the 50-month project will also provide employment opportunities for locals as the project’s contract sets a local Contract Participation Goal (CPG) of 4%, mandating a minimum spend of R141 million towards local labour in wages and salaries.

“Approximately 1 800 full-time equivalent jobs will be produced during construction.

“While numbers will vary during the contract, this equates to an average approximate number of 360 jobs created per month over 50 months, of whom about 300 will be for locals,” Peterson said.

“The Project Liaison Committee (PLC) that will oversee the smooth implementation of the project and safeguard [the] interests of the local community is in place following its election by local stakeholders in 2021.

“This PLC structure will be instrumental in ensuring that the 30% contract participation goal set on the contract is achieved and to ensure that it benefits the intended beneficiaries,” Peterson added.

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